Currently Chawin': SKOAL Wintergreen

Champions Complete is the latest version of Hero Games' flagship product, Champions, the superhero RPG.  Not to be confused with their Hero System 6th Edition or even their previous Champions book released for use with 6th Edition.  See, in their old days, Hero Games had not only Champions but other genre books like Fantasy HERO, and as with White Wolf's original product line, the rules between books duplicated the basics of the game system for things like character creation and combat, but "powers" and other special abilities didn't work quite the same way between games.  This was changed with the classic Champions 4th Edition, which was intended to be the core system for all genres.  However, that very fact meant that when Hero Games came back from business limbo (and we don't have all day to discuss that) the new core book was titled Hero System 5th Edition, and the latest is 6th Edition, reflecting the fact that the game system isn't "just" for superheroes.  Thus in the last two editions, Champions and Fantasy Hero aren't self-contained game books but genre books that you need the core system to work with.  The problem with this approach is that it threw off a lot of new gamers who expected "Champions" to be a complete super-hero game – as it once was, and as Mutants & Masterminds/DC Adventures is now.  The other problem is that the core rules are a dog-choking ream of hardcopy even by 5th Edition standards, now actually comprising two core books, one for character creation and another (somewhat smaller) "Combat and Adventuring" book that is basically a GM's guide.
So, in response to feedback, the company has given us Champions Complete, which as the name implies, is meant to let you play Champions with just the one book.  The main system is designed by Steven S. Long, but the new book is written by longtime Hero System fan Derek Hiemforth, who succeeds in cutting the, say, "non-essential" text and getting the essentials into one volume, no small task given that the superhero genre requires a superpower generation system that can encompass everything else from Horror to SciFi.  More importantly, he does this with a great amount of humor and enthusiasm.  For instance, in the "what is a role-playing game" intro, Hiemforth says that in a tabletop RPG, unlike an acting project, players don't act things out physically.  "But hey... if you want to tie that towel around your neck and jump off your sofa, we certainly won't stop you."

Core Concepts
From the introduction, Heimforth goes over some of the game's core concepts.  Foremost with Champions in particular, but also Hero System in general, the game is meant to be "larger-than-life," or what's been described elsewhere as "cinematic."  It is not impossible to die (depending on which options you use, it can be pretty easy) but the default is intended to be less "realistic" and lethal than other games (for example, GURPS).  Second, the game design is meant to allow creative freedom, which again is especially important in a game where people are creating their own superheroes.  This ties into how game mechanics work: For example, rather than have a "Fire Bolt" or "Lightning Bolt" power or a "Fire Control" power suite in the core rules, Hero/Champions uses a generic attack power called "Blast" that you can buy and define as a fire bolt, which may have certain results (like, if your target is vulnerable to fire).  The converse to this though, is the concept of "You Get What You Pay For."  This is something that's been picked out by Hero critics, since it's often interpreted to mean you have to pay build points for anything you use.  But in Champions Complete, (and in some of the other recent Hero releases) the text shifts the emphasis of this concept somewhat.  A game ability is supposed to cost in proportion to its usefulness in play, which is why the base cost of a 1d6 Blast is 5 points (you usually need 10d6 to be competitive) but more minor powers like Life Support/Immortality are only 5 points total; being unaging is at best a background element that won't come up nearly as often as the ability to use a ranged attack.  This also means that if a character wants some "trivia" ability that the GM thinks won't have much impact at all (like Knowledge Skill of Italian opera), the GM can just let him have that element for free.
In more mechanical matters, the game always uses 6-sided dice.  All Success Rolls work on 3d6, "roll under" such that a Skill Roll or an attack roll is usually based on a certain number (e.g. for Attack Rolls, it's 11 or less on 3d6) and "difficulty" is a subtraction or rarely a bonus to the number you need to go under (so, if a character's attack trait, or 'OCV' is 7, and the target's defensive trait, or 'DCV' is 9, then 7 minus 9 = -2, taken from your 11 or less is a 9 or less to hit that target).  Effect Rolls are made with Powers or with mundane weapons (which are basically Powers).  Blast, again, is measured in dice, and the more dice you have in your Blast Power, the more you roll up and add together.  In those cases, obviously you want your dice to roll high.  Combat actions are measured in 12-second Turns where each second is also called a Segment, with faster characters getting more Segments (Phases) in the turn.  Characters get a choice of actions in a Phase similar to their range of actions in other games: A Full Phase action takes an entire segment, a Half Phase Action takes half a segment/phase, and certain actions either are "Zero Phase" (like activating most Powers) or "No Time" (such as making a roll at the GM's request, like to perceive an ambush in combat).

Character Creation
After going over some more of the basics, the book addresses character creation.  Even though this game is specified for supers, the author does point out at least once that it's still synonymous with the overall Hero System; thus options are presented for both Superheroic and "Heroic" games.  The latter cover all other genres besides Superhero, and generally do not give as many starting Character Points to build PCs, even though some Heroic characters may have very powerful abilities depending on background.  One other difference is that depending on how "realistic" the setting in question is, Heroic characters may not have a lot of powers or special abilities, but they generally don't pay for their mundane gear as Powers whereas superheroes do; this is partly due to "game balance" and also because a character's Powers can duplicate the effects of mundane weapons, armor and gear and often exceed them.  This doesn't prevent a superhero from simply picking up a gun and shooting it, though the common-sense principle behind "You Get What You Pay For" applies.  Generally a Power or effect that you use a lot has to be paid for in a supers game.  The default example for a Champions/superhero game is a starting pool of 400 Character Points.  Of these a certain ratio must be paid for with Complications (formerly Disadvantages), reflecting elements that complicate a character's life, such as having an archenemy or a weakness to a certain attack.  In the default setting, 75 of the PC's 400 points must be covered by Complications.  

Characters can spend their Character Points in five categories: Characteristics, Skills, Perks (social things like wealth or connections), Talents (special abilities but not quite Powers- usually these will be the main special options in a Heroic game) and then Powers.  Powers are also used (often by the GM) to construct weapons and other gear, and to design animals and "monsters."
Characteristics in 6th Edition Hero include Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence (should be familiar), Ego (one's 'mental strength' stat), Presence (the 'personality' stat) and then what used to be considered secondary abilities: OCV (Offensive Combat Value), DCV (Defensive Combat Value), Offensive Mental Combat Value/OMCV (basically OCV for Mental Combat) Defensive Mental Combat Value, SPD (Speed, how many Phases you get to move in a 12-second Turn), PD (Physical Defense against kinetic attacks), ED (Energy Defense against energy attacks), Recovery (recuperation from injury), Endurance (to fuel or 'push' Powers or physical effort), Body ('hit points' against lethal damage) and Stun (how much concussion damage you can take before getting KO'ed, which in this system is not the same thing as losing hit points or dying).  
Most of the first-line abilities are bought on a 1-for-1 point basis.  These abilities are technically on the same scale to each other, though some are more easily measured than others; if a 10 Strength is standard, it gives a maximum lift rating of 100 kg and allows you to do 2d6 bare-hand damage (equivalent to a 2d6 Blast, but with no range).  Each +5 STR beyond that doubles lift capacity and adds +1d6 to damage (a 50 STR is 10d6 and can lift 25 metric tons).  However, a "Legendary" Intelligence like Sherlock Holmes is described as x2 to x3 "Base Value" (so if base value is 10, Holmes' INT would be anywhere from 21 to 30).  It's usually a lot more common for characters to be strong than smart, but this isn't much different from other games.
Skills are usually 3 points for a base roll, which is based on a certain Characteristic Roll with a formula of 9 + [CHA/5] or less, thus a character with a DEX of 13 who buys Stealth gets a base roll of 12 or less – 9 plus 13/5, round up to 3, equals 12, usually written as (12-).  Given the bell curve of 3d6, this presents a fairly good chance of success on normal rolls that are not given a penalty.  It also means that Skill Rolls of at least 14- (possible with a base stat of 23) will not be challenged much except by high difficulties, represented by GM-assigned penalties to the roll. (Skill Modifiers Table, p. 24)  In the main Hero System rulebook, many Skills have various subcategories that all have to be bought separately.  Hiemforth has thankfully made this an optional concept in this book.  In some cases subcategories are represented with a Power Limitation (for instance one alien villainess has Navigation that costs only 2 points because it only applies to Space).  Skills are described in very short and useful terms; for instance Persuasion "Allows a character to convince or influence individuals, or tell believable lies.  Examples include a salesman persuading a customer to buy his wares, a missionary converting a person to his faith, or a con artist convincing a mark to invest his life savings."

Perks (perquisites) are certain benefits a character has, as opposed to other traits which describe what the character can do.  The book emphasizes that Perks, such as Contacts (connections), Positive Reputation, or Wealth, can fluctuate or be lost in the course of play, even though they were paid for.
Talents are technically bought as minor Powers (the appendix for how they're broken down is in the 6th Edition Volume I, or on the company website) and serve as examples for how similar abilities can be built.  For instance, a beautiful character could buy Striking Appearance, which is basically just Presence that only applies to certain circumstances.  Double-Jointed effectively gives a Skill bonus to Contortionist rolls.  And so on.  Again, these traits are often the only "special abilities" that realistic characters in a Heroic game can have, and can serve as a character "schtick."
 
Then you get to Powers.  Given the customization options in Hero System, building Powers is  easily the most complex element of the game, and this book goes over certain basics in the introductory pages and in the main Powers section.  You start by "reasoning from special effects," or deciding what the power is supposed to do before looking up the rules.  Then you look up the Power in the book that is the best basis for what you want to do.  The cost of that Power is the ability's Base Cost before any modifiers.  You can then apply Power Advantages that increase the Power in some way but have a cost multiple.  The total in Advantages is added to a factor of 1 to multiply the base cost (so +1 value in Advantages, plus 1, is x2 multiple or double cost).  The Active Cost of the Power is its cost after any Advantages are applied.  Then you can apply Power Limitations that reduce the power's usefulness in some way and provide a cost break.  The total in Limitations is also added to a factor of one and made a divisor of the Active Cost.  The power's final cost after all Advantages and Limitations is the Real Cost, because those are the Character Points you actually pay.

For example, say you're making a Human Torch clone, which means all his powers will have the special effect (descriptor) of fire.  You can just give him a basic firebolt attack and buy it as x dice of Blast with no special variants.  You buy 10 dice.  As mentioned, Blast is 5 points per 1d6, so the 10d6 Blast attack has a Base, Active and Real Cost of 50 points.
But say you want to want to experiment.  Say you want the Torch to have a "fireball" attack that explodes and damages everything in the immediate area.  Having reasoned from effects, you decide how it works.  Blast is still the logical base Power.  You start with 8d6.  This is a Base Cost of 30 points.  You skip to the Power Advantages section and find just the thing you're looking for in Area Effect Radius, that makes the Power have its full effect on everything in a specific area.  An Area Radius of 8 meters is a +1/2 Advantage.  You take the 40 pt. Base Cost and multiply by 1 1/2 (1.5) and get an Active Cost of 60 points.  This gives you an attack that does 8d6 to everything in an 8 meter radius.  Not bad, but you decide you don't wanna pay 60 points.  You look through the Limitations and try to find one that makes sense.  There is a Limited Power modifier that you can use to create a custom Limitation.  It seems logical that a fireball wouldn't work in water- that is, not if the hero is submerged, or not against targets who are.  You check with the GM, who says this issue probably isn't going to come up that often but it's still a valid Limitation on the power.  He lets you give "Doesn't Work In Water" a -1/4 Limitation (the smallest possible).  You take your 60 pt. Power and divide by 1 1/4 (effectively 80%) and get a final Real Cost of 48 points.

There are also "Power Frameworks" you can use to get several powers together in the same "box" for a cost savings, which usually assumes the individual Powers are different applications or "power stunts" on the same superpower.  And there are also various things you can try like constructing a compound power (like a poisoned blade, say) or other tweaks.  But at root, the system is very simple.  There are however, enough options for power construction that they can be intimidating, which is why it may be best to start with the basics.
The character creation section also gives the list of categories for Complications.  As with the standard for Power Limitations, a Complication's point value is determined by how much it affects the character or how often he has to deal with it, and in 6th Edition, there are guidelines for how this works, so that an Uncommon complication will come up every five game sessions or so, whereas a Very Common one should be expected to come every other game.  Frequency of course is relative to the setting; "Hatred of Orcs" is not worth anything at all in a Hard Science Fiction game.  
Finally this section mentions two methods of "character development."  One is experience points.  A GM will give a minimum of 1 XP per game session, usually 2 to 3.  Unlike many systems, experience points are synonymous with Character Points used in character creation, so the Skill that costs 3 points to buy in the book still only costs 3 XP after character creation.  I find this to be one of the more attractive features of the rules system.
The other concept is Heroic Action Points.  These are Hero's version of the "hero points" used by other systems to modify dice results and were an option presented in 5th Edition Pulp HERO but made standard here.  These are largely subject to GM discretion and the book says they are intended to "limit the extent to which the randomness of the dice can create inappropriate results."

Combat & Stuff
Movement in the game is in meters (in fact all measurements are metric).  In 6th Edition there are no "game units"distinct from real measurements, though when using a map one can apply such; previously Hero System used hexes that measured 2 meters across.  Each of these hex-spaces was often referred to as an inch (") which may have needlessly confused people and would explain why they don't do that anymore.
As mentioned above, combat time is organized into 12-second Turns with each second counting as a Segment for a character who gets to move.  Each character move within a Segment is called his Phase.  Characters move according to their SPD rating, with higher-SPD characters getting more Phases.  This is on a scale where the average superhero is a 5 SPD, martial artists are usually 6 SPD, and "speedsters" are 6 and up.  There is a Speed Chart (p. 137) showing which particular Segments a character with a certain SPD moves, although all but the slowest characters get to go on Segment 12.  Thus, combat actually starts on Segment 12, with action after that proceeding to a whole new Turn.  When a Turn ends, there is a "post-Segment 12" where characters get a free breather to regain up to their Recovery rating in Endurance and Stun.  
If characters act on the same Phase, their initiative order is based on Dexterity; no rolls for initiative are made except for a 1d6 roll in case of tied DEX.  Actions on a Segment are not unlike D20 System in that you can take two Half Phase Actions or a Full Phase Action.  The difference is that in Hero, some actions are counted as "Attack Actions" - not just attacks, but certain Powers, and defensive actions like Dodge- and once you perform such an action, that ends your Phase.  (More simply, you can move and attack, but not attack and then move.)
Actual combat requires the acting character to roll 11 or less on 3d6.  The difference between the character's OCV (attack value) and DCV (defense value) is a modifier to the roll so that an OCV higher than the DCV means it's easier to roll under the number while a higher DCV makes it more difficult (a 5 OCV vs. a 7 DCV means 9 or less to hit).  As with many things in Hero, the particulars can get much more complex than this, but the principle is simple.  If the attacker hits, he rolls his dice for an Effect roll, so that the more dice you have in the effect the more damage it does.  The total is compared to whatever defense the target has; if the effect roll is higher than the defense rating the difference is applied to the target's Stun and possibly Body.  Here it's important to note one big difference and innovation of Hero System compared to other games: Hero makes a specific distinction between Normal and Killing Damage.  Mechanically the difference is in ratio- while 1d6 Blast costs 5 points, 1d6 Killing Attack costs 15.  When making an effect roll, a normal attack like a Blast applies its total to Stun and then a small fraction of that to Body (an average of 1 BODY per die) while a Killing Attack applies its total damage to BODY first and then a small multiplier (1/2d6 in this edition) is applied to Stun (so that a 2d6 Killing Attack that rolls 7 BODY and then a modified 3 for the multiple does 7 BODY and 21 STUN).  So naturally, a Killing Attack is much more focused on doing lasting damage (since Body works like hit points in other games, and doesn't usually recover in combat like Stun).  Furthermore there's also a difference between defenses that apply against Normal attacks and those that apply against Killing attacks, where the latter are called Resistant defenses.  Body armor and a superhero's bulletproof skin are examples of such, and most inanimate objects are considered Resistant by default.  Resistant defenses add to standard defenses against the Stun of any attack, but only Resistant defense counts against the BODY of any killing attack.  Thus, if that Killing Attack which rolled 7 BODY/21 STUN hit a soldier with a normal Physical Defense of 6 and body armor with 6 Resistant defense, he takes 9 STUN (21 – 12) but also 1 BODY (7 minus 6 points of armor).
A character who takes enough STUN in a single attack to exceed his CON score is considered Stunned and cannot act until his next Phase.  A character who runs out of STUN due to accumulated damage is Knocked Out and cannot act until his natural Recovery rating brings him back to positive.  A character who is at 0 or negative BODY is dying ('mostly dead') and if his injuries take him to twice his BODY (e.g. -10 BODY for a 10 BODY character) then you can search his pockets for loose change.  Simply taking injuries or Stun does not cause any penalties other than being brought closer to being KO'ed, though there are options like Hit Locations and Disabling effects to those locations, as well as the concept of Bleeding (taking automatic STUN if you took BODY).  The book advises that these are optional rules that add "realism" and depth to combat, at the expense of slowing down the action.

How to be a Superhero
After a short section on building bases, vehicles and base computers (and robots), Champions Complete goes from game mechanics to getting readers into the game setting.  The author mentions that while stories throughout the ages have presented larger-than-life protagonists, these stopped short of being modern superheroes in their lack of one characteristic: adherence to a higher code.  In traditional superhero comics, the hero follows an ideal of secular altruism that one such character referred to as "the American way."  A superhero avoids lethal force, keeps his word even to enemies, and is willing to risk himself for the greater good.
It's also mentioned that even when characters in fiction have fantastic powers and a heroic code, the superhero genre is distinguished by certain conventions.  Each of these also lends itself to certain story ideas.  For instance, it is both part of the genre and a practical consideration for a superhero to have a Secret Identity, and this counts as a Complication because of the need to protect one's secret from friends, family and the law.  Of course, it's more and more common (especially in superhero movies like Iron Man) for the hero to decide it's just as practical to "come out" and admit his identity, but then that usually results in the Public Identity Complication (in Tony Stark's case, he was famous and harassed by business rivals and government even before he was Iron Man).
One major attraction of superhero games is that they offer the widest possible range of settings for a game, including alien civilizations, "hidden lands," Atlantis or even Fantasy worlds with fae and mythical creatures.  These are also obvious points of origin for a superhero PC, which is another reason a supers game needs to have a robust powers system to accommodate any player concept.  
All of this matters because the GM also needs to decide the parameters of the game, in terms of whether magical origins (for instance) are available, or how powerful characters are supposed to be starting off.  For instance, in a lot of published Hero material, superheroes often have stats of 20 to 23 in Characteristics like Strength and Dexterity (making them at or above Olympic levels of physique) even if those abilities don't relate to their powers.  A GM may decide that PCs shouldn't buy Characteristics that aren't relevant to their abilities and powers.  This section of the book also gives GMs and players tips on what to buy for a given character concept, for example to make a character a "Smooth Talker" or what Complications simulate an "Achilles' Heel."  In Champions, there are no classes but characters do often fit certain "archetypes" based on the source material: Blaster (uses ranged energy attacks, or sometimes weapons), Brick (strong and tough), Gadgeteer, Martial Artist, Mentalist (psionic), Metamorph (could be anything from a werewolf to Deep Space Nine's Odo), Mystic (uses magic, normally acts like a Blaster but can have wider abilities), Powered Armor (like Iron Man, usually possessing super-strength, flight and tech gadgets built into the armor), Speedster and Weaponmaster (could be either Blaster or Martial Artist, depending on just what his weapon of choice is).  Accordingly this section includes descriptive examples of sample powers and how they could be built (for example a fire-user could make 'Wall of Fire' as a Ranged Killing Attack with Area Effect along a line).  They also mention the sorts of Complications that are common in a superhero game – roleplaying the "comics code" hero, for instance, is a Psychological Complication, but the Distinctive Features Complication is supposedly not that common precisely because superheroes are usually distinctive.  It is advised that such features should be "really" distinctive and actually inconvenience the character to count.
The campaigning section continues with superhero tropes like "A Good Explanation Is More Important Than Scientific Accuracy" and the related "Characters Ignore Inconvenient Science."  It also touches on the very important point that there are certain tropes that do NOT work in a roleplaying game, for factors including the randomness of player and GM rolls (which is one reason Hero does not try to create 'guaranteed' defenses or attacks, merely to simulate such with extra protection or accuracy) to plot factors like splitting the hero team (since most roleplayers learn early on to NEVER split the party).
After this, the back of the book features The Champions as a sample hero team composed of a wide range of archetypes (including spellcaster) each built on the beginning 400 points.  There are also a few supervillains built on similar lines.  After that you have templates for average people (small child, senior citizen, etc.) with skill sets for both Policeman and Superteam Member, and even a few simple power examples for such things as a Power Ring and a "Cord of Honesty."  Appendices briefly go over the other genres that you can play with "the HERO System rules engine that underlies Champions" and size and mass tables for characters who are (permanently) larger or smaller than man-size.  Then there are some convenient tables for Skills, Powers, etc. (with page numbers for each) and Combat Maneuvers, along with a two-page character sheet, and finally an Index.  

SUMMARY
What is the difference between a good game and a SUPER game?

PRESENTATION!!!

While I find the relatively free-form nature of Champions/HERO system to be much more to my liking than the class/level model of traditional systems (and much more fitting the supers genre), the "learning curve" can be pretty steep.  5th and 6th Edition HERO core rules dealt with this by going into great detail on how everything works and gave several sidebar examples of how Powers were constructed.  The problem was that all that text exacerbated the problem of trying to take the information in, if you weren't already familiar with things.  Remarkably, Derek Hiemforth has cut the system down to essential info while still having everything you need to make a complete supers game, and does so with English that is both easy and entertaining to read.  Which only proves that contrary to reputation, the HERO System is not hard at all once it's clearly presented.  Actually this was already proven with previous condensed versions of the core rules, like 5th Edition's licensed adaptation of Aaron Williams' P.S. 238 comic.  But Champions Complete makes "Champions" once again the flagship brand of Hero Games and promotes the HERO System to display its strengths.

RATING: 8

Is the setting based off the original Champions one? Or is it based off the MMO's variation again?

To my knowledge they're still using the Cryptic version of the setting, because Defender is described as having the open-face helmet they gave him to accommodate the Bruce Campbell chin he got in the MMO.

JG

bleah. Liked him better when he was an Iron Man homage. Most of the re-designs didnt really grab me. But eh, was a fun MMO.